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Abstract Reductions in nonresidential water demand during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of understanding how water age impacts drinking water quality and microbiota in piped distribution systems. Using benchtop model distribution systems, we aimed to characterize the impacts of elevated water age on microbiota in bulk water and pipe wall biofilms. Five replicate constant-flow reactors were fed with municipal chloraminated tap water for 6 months prior to building closures and 7 months after. After building closures, chloramine levels entering the reactors dropped; in the reactor bulk water and biofilms the mean cell counts and ATP concentrations increased over an order of magnitude while the detection of opportunistic pathogens remained low. Water age, and the corresponding physicochemical changes, strongly influenced microbial abundance and community composition. Differential initial microbial colonization also had a lasting influence on microbial communities in each reactor (i.e., historical contingency).
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Candidate biomarkers of lead-exposed municipal water biofilms provide insights into lead monitoring potential
Abstract AimsPremise plumbing systems are prone to biofilm development, and depending on municipal water source and infrastructure, may be susceptible to heavy metal exposure, including lead (Pb). We aimed to investigate the impacts of Pb on municipal water biofilms and to elucidate the interactive effects of time, pipe material, and Pb concentration of biofilms. Further, we aimed to understand if after a Pb-exposure event, microbial biomarkers indicative of previous Pb exposure may remain, which may assist public health and water regulatory agencies in triaging human health concerns postexposure. Methods and ResultsWe developed biofilms within pipe loops constructed from both cross-linked polyethylene (PEX-A) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastics and exposed them to different concentrations of Pb (0, 5, and 500 µg l−1) for 4 and 8 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of exposure to lead-free water to examine community shifts following a lead exposure event. Using bacterial metabarcoding and biomarker analyses, we show that Pb exposure shifts community structure and we identified several key taxa associated with lead exposure events and demonstrate that these taxa persist even after lead is removed from the system. ConclusionsTaken together, this work provides a framework for identifying past Pb-exposure events that can be used for precautionary monitoring for human Pb exposures.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2029764
- PAR ID:
- 10672661
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford Academic
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Microbiology
- Volume:
- 136
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 1365-2672
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jambio/lxaf247
